Monday, January 5, 2008--- Los Angeles, CA--- Since 1993 the non-profit company, Women's Image Network has produced The WIN Awards to honor outstanding individuals in the entertainment industry who promote gender parity through their creativity and leadership.

As the entertainment industry is poised on the cusp of a gaming industry revolution that will forever change how people interact with their televisions and connect with others, for the first time since its 1993 inception, Women's Image Network has added a video game category to The WIN Awards its longstanding TV&Film awards show. On February 17, 2009, The WIN Awards will applaud dozens of nominated actors, directors, producers, video games, films and television

Also, on the morning of The WIN Awards show, WIN will also host a video game developer and publisher breakfast conference held at a Beverly Hills-area hotel on February 17, 2009. The WIN founder, Phyllis Stuart said, "In addition to producing our longstanding Hollywood TV and Film awards show, we also will offer an interactive industry panel discussion to explore the cultural convergence between Hollywood and video gaming. This esteemed group of panelists will consist of a cross-section of high-caliber television artists, filmmakers, video game developers, publishers and attorneys to explore the law and business of video gaming. This event will examine the latest trends and investigate the relationship between publishers and developers who must balance time with technology".

For the first time since its 1993 inception The WIN Awards have added Video Games to its longstanding TV&Film Awards show. The nominated video games are listed on The WIN Awards website and one Outstanding Video Game winner will be announced at The WIN Awards ceremony. However, for the first time WIN collaborated with girl-gamers group PMS CLAN which hosted The WIN Awards PEOPLE'S CHOICE Video Game Contest on their website where PMS CLAN members and visitors cast votes to select their favorite video game of 2008.

It seem that many women like (somewhat to very) intense video games, turning gender identity in video games on its ear. Female voters choose the following three video games in The WIN Awards 2008 PEOPLE'S CHOICE VIDEO GAMES contest. Their top favorite video games of 2008 are:

1ST PLACE:

Left 4 Dead developed by Valve. Left 4 Dead is a co-op, action horror game for the PC and Xbox 360 that casts players in an epic struggle for survival against swarming zombie hordes and terrifying mutant monsters.

SECOND PLACE:

Gears of War 2 is a tactical third-person shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360.

THIRD PLACE:

Call of Duty is a first-person shooter video war game simulates the infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II. The game was developed by Treyarch on the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare engine and was published by Activision. The Call of Duty series originated on the console game systems by Spark Unlimited.

The WIN Awards inaugural Interactive Industry Achievement Honoree Mary Dolaher will be feted for having provided innumerable contributions to the video game industry, including running E3 Expo for over a decade, creating a new E for All Expo for consumers, and her role in the development of "Into the Pixel", an outstanding video game art exhibition. Next Generation has several times named Mary Dolaher one of the top 25 people in the video game industry. Ms. Dolaher now serves as CEO of the IDG World Expo, a leading producer of trade events including Macworld and REVEALLos Angeles. Ms. Dolaher joined IDG World Expo after having been Senior Vice President of the Entertainment Software Association, where she ran the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), known globally as the video game industry's leading annual event. Bob Carrigan, CEO of IDG Communications Inc., will present the special tribute to Ms. Dolaher. IDG World Expo is a business unit of IDG, the world's leading research, technology media and event company.

Established in 1993 the non-profit organization Women's Image Network, (WIN), first produced The WIN Awards to celebrate those who promote gender parity through their creativity and leadership. In 2002, WIN began inviting television broadcasters and film studios to submit their shows and films to honor seasoned professionals whose work forward its mission "To Foster A World Where Everyone WINs". Much larger now, WIN Awards honor seasoned television, film and video game professionals whose work forwards its mission "To Foster A World Where Everyone WINs".

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